1. Field of the Invention
This patent application relates to systems for compiling and displaying racecourse data. More particularly, this invention relates to methods to define a racecourse along a predefined path. As race vehicles traverse this path, information regarding the race vehicles, such as speed and ranking, is communicated to a scoreboard for display.
2. Description of Related Art
While racecourse radio controlled (R/C) cars and other racing vehicles such as R/C boats, trucks and motorcycles have been a consistently popular over the years, a simple, inexpensive, way to define a racecourse and to count laps of a race has not been readily available. Simple approaches, such as placing cones or drawing the course with chalk on asphalt have as one obvious disadvantage that it is easy for a competitor to “cut” a corner and cheat the course.
More advanced hobbyists generally construct racecourses using wood to define sidewalls of the track. For a course for off-road type trucks, plastic tubing that is generally partially buried in dirt, typically defines the path of the racecourse. Constructing such racecourses are time consuming and requires significant effort and expense. Further, such courses are not readily portable.
Lap counting methods are well known for R/C cars. While many devices are currently available they can be expensive.
Micro-Reality racing (also known as Micro Reality Entertainment Systems of the United Kingdom) sells a product that embeds a loop of wire under the finish line of a racetrack. Each car is equipped with a radio frequency emitter transmitting at a different frequency. The loop acts as an antenna and receives the signals from each car. The scoreboard receives these signals and counts the laps in the race. This method is expensive utilizing relatively costly transmitting and receiving radio electronics.
KO Propo Ltd of Middlesex, United Kingdom manufactures a system where a loop antenna for the racecourse is sensitive enough to detect oscillations of a crystal in the electronic radio signal transmitting circuit in the car. Each car has a slightly different frequency. The electronic sensing circuit attached to the loop antenna analyzes the signals and sends information regarding which car has passed the loop antenna to a computer program. The computer program tracks the race and displays the lap results and times. The electronics module to receive and process these faint signals is expensive and time consuming to build.
A system manufactured by TrakMate of British Columbia, Canada, uses a laser light beam that is broken by a flag attached to a car as it passes the finish line. Different cars in the race have different height flags. The information from the electronic circuit detecting the laser beam is sent to a computer to display the results. Once again the receive optics and electronics for this device is costly.
Another system uses a line of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) that are suspended above the finish line to form a curtain of light at the finish line that the car must move through in order to record a lap. On each car is a detector that senses the light and sends a signal to the scoreboard when the light is received. The structure to suspend these LEDs is relatively large and costly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,553 to Arima et al. discloses a racecourse for operator driven race cars, such as go-karts, having position indicating markers positioned about the racecourse. Sensors on the racecars detect the markers and transmit detection of the marker to a fixedly mounted second transmitter that then transmits information such as position and ranking to a host computer. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,553 is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. Due to the fixturing of the markers and second transmitters, this system is not amenable to rapid reconfiguration of the racecourse and may lead to driver boredom after a number of runs around the same predefined path. Also, the second transmitter adds expense to the entire system.
There remains a need for a system to track a plurality of racing vehicles on along a predefined patent path that does not suffer from the limitations of the above described prior art.